Turabi's wife Wisal al-Mahdi said she and her family were given permission to visit him in prison by former Interior Minister Al-Hadi Abdullah because she said, "we were worried with a report that the Sheikh was flown out of Khartoum to an unknown location."

Members of Turabi's opposition Popular National Congress (PNC) party told AFP on Friday that he had been flown out of Khartoum, but the authorities denied the report as baseless.

According to the Emirati Arabic newspaper, Al Bayan, Turabi met with members of his family in the presence of prison wardens and other security personnel and “complained of the isolation which does not allow me to know what is going on outside the prison walls.”

Quoting Siddiq, Turabi’s son, the family were not allowed to talk about anything except “family matters,” adding that his father looked “in good health.”

According to Siddiq, his father was worried about the rumors the government might be spreading about him.

Turabi, who was considered the godfather of the Islamic revolution in the country which brought President Omar Bashir to power in 1989, was arrested last week after he announced an alliance with south rebel leader, John Garang.

Turabi fell at odds with Bashir in December 1999, and moved to the opposition trenches calling for human rights and political reforms in the country.

Bashir was quoted by the official SUNA news agency as telling a group of army officers including the defence minister and his chief of staff he would "never tolerate any threat" to the country's security.

AFP added that at least 95 PNC officials have also been arrested in the anti-PNC campaign – Albawaba.com